Month: January 2017

**I tinted flaked coconut with green food coloring for the grass. Just throw the coconut into a ziplock, add a few drops of food coloring & shake, shake, shake.

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Crush 36 cookies to fine crumbs; place in medium bowl. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended. Shape mixture into football shapes & refrigerate for a few minutes.

Dip balls in chocolate; place on wax paper-covered baking sheet. Melt white chocolate chips in a plastic bag. You want the chocolate to be soft, but not too thin because you need to be able to pipe it. Cut tip off corner of the bag and pipe “laces” onto truffle.

This is what happens when your friend asks you to bring “something snacky” to a gathering. I kind of just threw things together, but everyone was hovering over the bowl in the kitchen, so I think they liked it 😉

I wouldn’t really call this a “recipe” but here are the steps!

1 box of Chex Mix

16 oz dry-roasted peanuts

Reese’s Pieces

Peanut Butter

White Almond Bark

Small pretzel sticks (optional)

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Lay out two pieces of wax paper (it’s best to do this on a baking sheet) and split the box of Chex Mix between them. If you have pretzels, repeat this step with two additional pieces of wax paper. In two separate plastic bags, microwave a few blocks of almond bark & peanut butter until melted, but not runny.

Snip a small hole in one corner & drizzle one half of Chex Mix (and pretzels) with chocolate & the other with peanut butter.

During the summer, we have this all the time. Although it’s pasta, it’s light & delicious!

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Nature’s Own seasoning, dried oregano and dried basil

kosher salt and fresh pepper

8 oz penne pasta

2 (pint) grape tomatoes, halved

6 cloves garlic, minced

parmesan cheese, grated

extra virgin olive oil

4 TBSP fresh basil, chopped

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Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.

Season chicken generously with Nature’s Own seasoning, oregano and basil. Heat a large skillet on high heat. Once heated, drizzle oil in pan and add chicken. Cook about 3-4 minutes, until cooked through. Remove chicken, dice and set aside.

Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Reserve 1/2-1 cup pasta water before draining.

While pasta cooks, add olive oil to skillet on high heat. Add garlic and sauté until golden brown (do not burn). Add tomatoes, salt and pepper, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Sauté about 4-5 minutes. Use tongs to crush softened tomatoes – this will help create the sauce. When pasta is drained, add pasta to tomatoes and toss well. If pasta seems too dry, add some of the reserved pasta water. Add fresh basil and chicken and toss well. Serve and top with grated cheese.

These cookies are so yummy! They taste just like the Thin Mints the Girl Scouts sell, so you know it’s going to be a winner.

18 Ritz Crackers

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

1 tablespoon vegetable shortening, optional but recommended

3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
Assorted Christmas sprinkles

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Prepare a baking sheet by lining it with parchment wax paper.

In a shallow microwave-safe bowl, combine chocolate chips and shortening (the shortening helps the chocolate stay smooth when using it for dipping; it prevents that thick and gloppy, chocolate getting hard before you want it to phenomenon) and heat for 1 minute on high power to melt. Stir and heat in 10 to 15 second bursts until chocolate can be stirred very smooth.

To the melted chocolate add 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract and stir. If you prefer it mintier, add another 1/4 teaspoon.

*Note: Mint extract is much, much more potent than vanilla extract; 1 teaspoon of mint extract has an extreme amount of potency compared with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. You cannot un-do mint once added so be very, very careful to not over-do it.

Add 1 cracker to the chocolate, coat it, and remove it by lightly scooping it up from the underside with a fork, allowing excess chocolate to drain off through fork tines. Place cracker on parchment and repeat with all remaining crackers. If necessary, re-heat the chocolate in 10 to 15 second bursts if it starts getting too firm for smooth dipping. Sprinkle dipped crackers with assorted sprinkles. After all crackers have been dipped, place baking sheet in refrigerator.

Store extra Thin Mints in an airtight container in the refrigerator for many weeks. In the freezer, I estimate that these could be kept for 3 to 6 months successfully.

Making this cake is Christmas tradition. I make it every year & not only is it pretty…it goes FAST!

1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist white cake mix

Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box

Red and green food color

1 (12 oz) can Betty Crocker Whipped fluffy white frosting

Red, green and white candy sprinkles

Heat oven to 325°F. Generously grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening or cooking spray. Make cake mix as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs. Pour half of the batter into medium bowl; set aside. Divide the other half of batter equally between 2 small bowls. (You will be left with 3 bowls of batter.) Add red food color to 1 of the small bowls and mix well. Add green food color to the second small bowl and mix well.

Pour half of the white batter from medium bowl into cake pan. Carefully pour red batter over white batter in pan. Carefully pour green batter over red batter. Then pour remaining white batter from medium bowl over the top. Do not mix the colors.

Divide frosting between 2 small microwavable bowls. Microwave 1 bowl on High about 5 to 10 seconds; mix well with spoon until smooth enough to drizzle. With the spoon, drizzle white frosting back and forth around the whole cake in a striping pattern until you use all of the frosting (allow some frosting to drip down onto plate in middle of cake, if desired).

Microwave second bowl of frosting; stir in a few drops of green food color. Drizzle over cake, scattering back and forth in the same type of striping pattern. Decorate with sprinkles. Let stand until frosting is set before serving.

**When you add the batter to the cake pan, don’t mix it with a spoon. Just pour it in so the colors rest on top of each other.

Now that we’ve made it through another incredible Thanksgiving, I thought I would tell you the secret to a successful (and stress-free) cooking experience. The key is preparation. Cooking for Thanksgiving is a marathon, not a sprint & the more you can complete before the actual day, the better off you’ll be!

So for example, if I were making mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, creamed corn and deviled eggs, my timeline may look something like this.

Sunday before Thanksgiving

Go shopping. This will ensure you get all the groceries you need and can avoid some of the holiday rush.

Also, if you’re making deviled eggs, buy them now (or even before.) Fresh eggs will not peel, so do yourself a huge favor & buy your eggs early.

Tuesday before Thanksgiving

Peel your potatoes. Chop them, place them in a pot of water & stick them in the fridge. This probably goes without saying, but keep the Russet potatoes & sweet potatoes separated.

Day before Thanksgiving

This is a BIG DAY for Thanksgiving preparation. Take your potatoes out of the fridge. Drain the water and follow the recipes from there.

Once your mashed potatoes are complete, put them in the fridge.

For the sweet potato casserole, follow the recipe, but stop at the point where you add the topping and bake. (We’ll do that tomorrow.) Cover the casserole dish with foil and refrigerate.

Complete the creamed corn recipe, cover in foil and refrigerate.

Complete the deviled eggs, cover and refrigerate.

THE BIG DAY – Thanksgiving

We normally eat lunch at noon, so in that case, I would put the casserole dishes in the oven about an hour and a half before you need to leave. I throw them in there while it preheats and when it reaches 350 degrees I pull the sweet potatoes, add the topping and then bake per the recipe. (I know the baking temps vary between the corn and sweet pots, but I just put it on 350 degrees and check the corn until it’s warmed through.

While the oven is preheating, remove the prepared russet potatoes from the fridge and transfer them to a buttered crockpot on the “low” setting. Set the timer for about an hour & a half. Continue stirring, checking the temperature and finally adjusting the seasoning. You may need to add additional butter, salt & pepper once everything heats up.

Make a checklist before you leave the house & make sure you have all your sides and anything else you to serve them.